perhaps during festivals of some kind, when people came to make their offerings in the special deposits.’
‘So the activity at Dhaskalio is related to what was happening at the sanctuary. Indeed, in a way it was the sanctuary’s counterpart, and it is quite possible to imagine that this was the place where people involved in the ceremonies were living. Obviously, if you’re travelling by boat without mechanised power, you don’t arrive and then immediately leave – you perhaps stay for several days. That visitors had time to engage in metallurgy definitely supports this view. Visits to the island were presumably seen as a special activity, and the way that the terraces on Dhaskalio were constructed to create rising walls in receding planes must have made the site look very impressive to those approaching by sea from the north. While the settlement and sanctuary have different characters, they both seem to have a symbolic significance.’
Crucible of urbanism This link between Dhaskalio and religious festivals raises the question of what life in the settlement was like. ‘That’s one of the reasons why we’re digging there again,’ says project co-director Michael Boyd of the McDonald Institute. ‘The 20072008 excavation concentrated on the summit, which revealed the interesting “public” buildings, but our current work is demonstrating that these exceptional structures dating to the final phase of www.world-archaeology.com
CurrentWorldArchaeology cyclades left Dhaskalio was transformed by constructing terraces from tonnes of imported marble (above). The structures built on these artificial ledges created a settlement of unprecedented size and complexity in Europe, which may have accommodated people participating in ceremonies at the sanctuary.
activity give a misleading view of the overall settlement. It is now clear that metalworking was one of the primary concerns of the people living or working at Dhaskalio. Most areas produce some traces of this, which is very surprising. One of the principal results of the current excavations is that we’ve found one certain example of a metallurgical workshop, and we’ll be looking at a probable second one this year. We’ve also carried out a geochemical survey, which has taken readings from every layer that we’ve excavated. This shows that there are raised traces – far above what could be considered normal – of copper over almost the entire islet. There are also raised traces of lead in some areas, reaffirming that metalworking is occurring almost ubiquitously throughout the settlement.’
‘In our confirmed workshop we have more than 100 fragments of baking pans – their exact role in the metallurgical process is still uncertain, but they all have copper adhering to them – and 14 blowpipe fragments, which were used to get the fire to the correct temperature. There were also stone moulds for artefacts, and spilled copper. Our possible second workshop is in the lower part of the site, next to a narrow staircase that seems to have been the entrance to the settlement. We have started excavating below a floor surface there and found hugely increased copper levels and a vitrified – that is, partially turned into glass – vessel that looks to be in situ. We expect that this vessel was exposed to temperatures high enough to vitrify it during the metalworking process. Given that the necessary ores were not available on the island, concentrating metal resources like this will not have been easy. It certainly places Keros within, and perhaps at the heart of, networks involved with the procurement and distribution of these items. It really emphasises how important and significant the site was.’
right The summit of Dhaskalio was crowned by a set of large and impressive public buildings, including this large, hall-like structure.
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